Hi folks,
Our 95 Accord just had its front end ripped off. We are trying to decide if we should try to fix it or buy something else. Either way, the insurance check is going to be pretty small.
Here are some of the things to consider:
about 175,000 miles.
Engine runs good and has been fairly well maintained, but it is leaking and burning a bit of oil.
Body was in great shape except for numerous paint chips that are rusting.
Right side of the radiator and its support frame were bowed back about 1/2". Mechanic says there is a pinhole but is otherwise serviceable.

The insurance company will look at the car in a few days and then we'll know how much money we have to work with. I know it won't be much.

I guess the difficulty in our decision is do we spend a couple thousand to get it running? ( it is a one owner car) Or spend the money on another car that is running, but we don't know the history of?
Unfortunately, a couple thousand dollars isn't going to get a car that is very much newer or has many fewer miles on it.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and advice. Here are links to some pictures so you can see what we're working with:

https://snaphappydan.smugmug.com/95-...mage/i-VDmMGgH
https://snaphappydan.smugmug.com/95-...mage/i-x8nVhbG
https://snaphappydan.smugmug.com/95-...mage/i-n84Fdhj

I'm at a loss as to how to proceed. I've never had this much damage to deal with.
Thanks for your time!

Dan
Kent, WA

 

That is a tough situation. You won't get much from insurance. But you could probably pick up a parts car on craigslist for not much and swap the front components.

Honestly I probably wouldn't worry about everything lining up perfectly(the bow), just get it driveable with a new headlight and bumper cover etc. Could probably be done for a few hundred.

 

Thanks Live2Rice,
I did some cleaning up of the car today. I think you are right - basically getting it running and street legal. The radiator is bowed more than I thought - maybe an inch. It appears to have pushed the passenger side fan shroud into the motor mount. I think the fan should still work and the radiator is still free to move a bit in its rubber mounts. There has obviously been a leak but when I opened the radiator cap it was full. Hmm.

I got a rental car today.Partly paid for by the insurance, but only for a week. And they are teasing me! A 2016 Toyota Camry with all the bells and whistles. I couldn't even afford the insurance on something like that. Oh well.

If anybody else has any thoughts about how or where to get replacement parts I would love to hear them. The last time I worked on a car all the parts where metal and the fasteners were real steel bolts.

Thanks again!
Dan

 

The question is, can you fix your current car for less than it would cost to buy something as nice? If yes, fix it; if no, junk it and buy something else.

 

Depending on where the core support was bent(bowed), it shouldn't really hurt you. If it's at the top, you could use a tie srtap and a tree to pull it back out and get most of the clearance back, Same applies with the bottom of it. Then it's just a matter of hunting down some replacement parts. I'd try Craig's list, and see if anyone is selling one, or parting 1 out. Another choice is Car-Part.com, and put in what you're looking for. A junkyard would be next. Keep in mind for your car 94 and 95 are basically the same parts, but you can use parts from a 96 and a 97 if you want.
Personally I'd fix it. A hood, headlight, side marker light, bumper w/brackets, bumper cover, and grill shouldn't be too hard to find.
I hope this helps.

 

For the body parts, the headlights and bumper should come from a 94/95. The 96/97 headlights won't fit right on a the 94/95 bumper and vise versa.

I'm guessing what you see as a bent radiator is a bent a/c evaporator that you can see from the front of your car. The radiator is behind the evaporator. You may want to see if the a/c is working.

I also see some damaged wiring that you would need to repair.

If you have a u-pull-it yard in your area, you may be able to find inexpensive parts that will work on your accord.

You may want to look on Craigslist to see what vehicles the insurance check could get you. The 94-97 accords are pretty solid cars. I'd say the 96/97s are slightly better with OBD2, no power antenna, and Honda fixed a design flaw where the rear quarter panel always rusted.

 

I get the impression your on a tight budget but sounds like it's time to move on with this car...Sorry...

 

I don't know about that. A 1 owner car with a 175K on it is actually pretty low mileage for these cars (I have a 97, a 99, and an 00 all with over 230K on them) all things considered. Then you add in they already know it's history (what has and hasn't been replaced over the years), and it really becomes a no brainer.
Hell, I'd love to find a semi low mileage 1 owner car myself (different year and maybe transmission though). Especially if they would give all of the paperwork that goes to it. Those are diamonds in the rough, and will last a very long time just keeping up the maintenance.

 

Rebuild if you can get the parts from a pull-a-part yard.

 

Hey, Thanks for all the replies!
I appreciate the advice! I have watched a few Youtube videos about changing parts.
Do you folks have any favorite online parts suppliers? Would you generally prefer to get your parts used from a wrecking yard or new / remanufactured? The prices online seem pretty good to me, but I wouldn't trust that a hood would get here undamaged.

I'm hoping that I can find a wrecking yard that will let me cut a wiring harness instead of tracing and unfastening the whole thing. I'm pretty sure that I can match up and solder the wires if I can get some replacement electrical connectors with wires attached.

I'll have to look at the radiator again - I didn't realize that I was looking at an a/c evaporator. The Passenger side fan shroud is against the motor mount but doesn't appear to be deformed. The radiator support is a bit mangled. It looks like when it got pushed back the horn was pushed into and bent the a/c evaporator / radiator.

Just discovered that the front passenger door was pushed in. It looks like we dodged a bullet there. The door seems to work fine and there's no indication of misalignment.

The tip of the right fender is pushed in. I guess we'll be looking to replace that, too.
More pictures have been posted to my web gallery. If you get a chance to look at them I would appreciate any further observations. Do you folks have any recommendations for repair guidance? I can buy a manual, but I was hoping to find info online.

Here's a link to my Accord pictures. Sorry about the duplicates - I was worried about missing anything.
https://snaphappydan.smugmug.com/95-Accord-Damage
The white stuff is from driving on snowy slush covered roads. Some of it could be salt - I better get at that with my pressure washer.

Thanks again!
Dan Kent, WA